June 2020 Newsletter

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June 2020

Nearly a dozen faculty have contributed to the Center for the Arts and Humanities’ blog “Responding to the Twin Pandemics of COVID-19 and Racial Injustice: Arts and Humanities in a Time of Crisis.” Entries range from activism as art, to reflections on Black life and death, to solo parenting during the pandemic, and more.

Dear Alumni, Parents, and Friends,

It has been an honor to serve as Interim Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences this past year. Though it has been a challenging year, I have been encouraged and inspired by our faculty, staff, students and community members.

We were able to finish the spring quarter strongly, given extraordinarily difficult circumstances due to COVID-19. Our faculty and staff worked hard throughout the transition to provide excellent remote teaching and support, and our students put their best foot forward and showed a resilience that will serve them throughout their lives. While our campus is still closed, construction on the Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation has resumed, and the University’s Resilience and Recovery Working Group is working hard to implement a careful and detailed plan to return, once it is safe. Amidst all of this, we still found ways to support our local community—for example, in March, the STEM departments donated more than 16,000 gloves that were no longer needed for labs to local healthcare organizations. Additionally, many of our friends and alumni have served on the front lines during the pandemic, with remarkable stories of dedication and sacrifice like that of Dr. MaryAnn Dakkak ’04 (Biology).

Another challenge we must face together is the racial violence and injustice that tragically persists in our country more than 50 years after the death of Dr. King and the promise of the Civil Rights movement, indeed after decades and centuries of Black American freedom struggles. At Santa Clara, and in the College in particular, we must acknowledge this unacceptable reality and find ways, small and large, to advocate for greater equality, accountability, and justice. We promise to do all that we can to ensure that racial inequality and injustice does not continue, and we join with you in demanding justice today and progress tomorrow.

Our amazing faculty and students continue their remarkable work, earning multiple awards along the way, as the entries below demonstrate. I am also proud to report that the College had a highly successful hiring season, attracting an exceptionally talented and diverse group of faculty who will teach and inspire the next generation of Santa Clara students.

I am thrilled to pass the baton to Daniel Press, who will begin his tenure as dean on July 1. I have immense confidence in his ability to lead us through these difficult times with care, concern, leadership, and innovation. The College is in good hands.

Terri Peretti
Interim Dean
College of Arts and Sciences

Valedictorian Sabine Pigg, Biochemistry, and fellow classmates were recognized at SCU's virtual celebration.

Erika Rasmussen, English and Sociology, will spend a year in New York City immersed in the media landscape with America Media as an O'Hare Fellow.

Griffin Garner, Environmental Studies, will evaluate best practices in developing climate resilience for smallholder coffee farmers in Uganda.

Mariana Perera, Political Science, Spanish, and Communication, will study disability rights policy in Brazil as a Fulbright Scholar.

Paola Valle, Neuroscience, brings data from a summer of field studies in the Sierras back to Santa Clara for further review.

Alexa DeSanctis, Psychology and Child Studies, shares about her values and the passion that drives her towards making meaningful change in the world.

Olivia Mora, Neuroscience and Anthropology, interned with the Federal Trade Commission investigating unfair business practices.

Tori Brown, Public Health, will pursue of Masters in Social Work and Masters in Public Health at Boston University.

Luca Pagano, Psychology, reflects on his time at Santa Clara University.

Ally O'Connor, English, reflects on her time at Santa Clara University.

Kalina Karbowski, Studio Art, and her triptych narrative "Barriers" was featured by Light Grey Art Lab in their virtual senior art show honoring the global Class of 2020.

Alekhya Parvathaneni, Biology and Economics, looks back on her time at SCU and forward to her future as a physician-scientist.

Hana Seastedt, Public Health Science, watches the impact of her field unfolding, half a world away.

More Next Stops

Our graduates go on to a wide range of places. Here is just a sampling:

Sequoia Andrade, Mathematics and Psychology, will be interning this summer with NASA Ames Research Center working on a mathematical modeling project.
Jesse Cervantes, Biochemistry, will be working as a Medical Assistant at OrthoNorCal and applying to medical school.
Preston Eppler, Political Science, will be beginning a new role as a Business Development Representative for Cloudflare, a SaaS company based out of San Francisco in July.
Kira Fahy, Biochemistry and Spanish Studies, will be attending graduate school at Northwestern this fall.
Nick Fazio, Environmental Studies and French & Francophone Studies, will be interning at Turner Construction.
Gigi Gadbois, Biochemistry, will be going to UC San Diego this fall for a Ph.D. in Chemical Biology.
Micaela Gallegos, Political Science, will be working at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as a Post-College Appointee for a one-year research position in the Computing Department. After this research position is over she hopes to pursue a Master's degree in Computer Science or Cybersecurity.
Christine Hancock, Biochemistry, will start the Doctor of Pharmacy program at UC San Francisco in July.
Cameron Heon, Religious Studies and Individual Studies, will join the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and spend a year volunteering as the Religious Affairs Associate at the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding in New York.
Shane Hughes, Political Science, will be a Business Associate at Visa, Inc. in a two-year rotational program.
Nicole Jacobus, Music and Communication, will work for a nonprofit theatre company in San Jose while applying to graduate school.
Janik Karoly, Physics, has been accepted into the Astronomy Ph.D. program at the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute at University of Central Lancashire.
Parwana Khazi, Biology, Public Health Science, and Spanish Studies, will take a gap year to do research and apply to M.D./Ph.D. programs in the medical and public health fields.
Rebeca Kinslow, Political Science and Communication, will be working in the LAUNCH program at Western Digital in Los Angeles.
Patrick Kirk, Engineering Physics, will attend UC Davis' Materials Engineering M.S. program.
Aditya Krishnan, Engineering Physics will be studying Electrical and Computer Engineering through UC Davis' Ph.D. program.
Jaenic Lee, Economics, will be attending medical school at Saint Louis University in the fall.
Christopher Lindrud, Political Science, History, and Spanish Studies, will be working at an international trade startup (NGO) called the Trade Center for the Americas. The organization helps grow small businesses in Latin America.
Noah Lordi, Engineering Physics and Mathematics, will be pursuing a Ph.D. in Physics at CU Boulder.
Sam McNeal, English and Philosophy, is working for the family business in property management while studying for the LSAT and plans to attend law school next year.
Kennedy Myers, Political Science and Communication, will be attending law school at UC Irvine.
Shreyes Nallan, Electrical Engineering and Physics, has received a full fellowship to start his Ph.D. studies in the Materials Science program at Carnegie Mellon University.
Francesca Navarro, Biology, will be pursuing a Ph.D. in Biological and Biomedical Science through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard Medical School this August.
Maggie Oys, Political Science and History, will be participating in LMU's PLACE (Partners in Los Angeles Catholic Education) Corps, where she will earn her Masters in Urban Education from LMU and gain 2 years working experience as a full-time teacher in an under-resourced Catholic school in the Los Angeles Diocese. She is hoping to teach high school level history and/or government classes.
Andrea Peña, Sociology and Ethnic Studies, will be attending graduate school to study Social Sciences and Comparative Education at UCLA.
Mika Philip, Mathematics and Computer Science, will be working as an Advanced Applications Engineer at Accenture.
Sabine Pigg, Biochemistry, will be in New York City working for Americorps as a site coordinator at the literacy non-profit Reading Partners while applying to medical school.
Bjørn Thyrring, Political Science and Religious Studies, will pursue a master’s degree in theological studies—with an emphasis in politics, ethics, and religion—at Harvard Divinity School beginning in the autumn.
Mackenzie Tobin, Political Science, will be attending law school at the University of Southern California in the fall.
Lauren Verheyden, Biochemistry, will spend a gap year working as a contact tracer for the Georgia Department of Public Health, volunteering at a dental clinic, and applying to dental school.
Kate Wyant, Environmental Studies, plans to work at a winery and record music.

Student Experience

Max Bjorni '21, Neuroscience and Biology, is the first SCU student to win the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship in over a decade.

Professor Matthew Bell and his PSYC 140 class met the Santa Clara Police Department's K9 unit and their trainers.

Ciara Moezidis '21, Political Science and Communication, was a finalist for a premier fellowship for those pursuing public service, the Truman Scholarship.

Mac Mann-Wood '22, English and Child Studies, explored the reality of life as a teacher during her REAL placement.

Alumni

Fulbright Scholar Erin Ronald '19, Sociology and Environmental Science, will research urban climate mitigation policy in several cities in Sweden.

Nick Nagy in front of Peace Corps Zambia sign

Peace Corps Volunteer Nick Nagy '19, Religious Studies, reports from Zambia.

Memoirist Huda Al-Marashi ’98, History, visited campus to share her experiences and advice with students and the SCU community as this Fall’s “Writing Forward Reading Series” speaker. Read More

Kyra McComas '16, History and Biochemistry, fuses science and humanistic thinking. Read More

Gracelyn Bateman '12, Sociology, started Luna Peak Foundation to uplift survivor stories, create books, and host retreats for cancer and grief communities. Read More

Sonia Suri '13, Public Health Science, is a maternity nurse and had, until recently, been accustomed to caring only for mothers and babies. During the last few months, she has been called to support those dealing with COVID patient care. Hear more from Suri about her experience and the personal decisions she’s made as a frontline health care worker. Watch the video

Compassion and flexibility—those are the keys to adapting to remote instruction, according to alumna Allia Griffin '07, Ph.D., who is also a lecturer in the ethnic studies department. In a discussion with President Kevin O’Brien, S.J., Griffin emphasizes the importance of building community and adjusting to the needs of students in a virtual classroom. Watch the video

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Faculty Achievement

Nico Opper, Communication, has been recognized for artistic excellence as a Eureka Fellow by San Francisco's Fleishhacker Foundation.

Anthony Hazard, Brett Solomon, Tanisha Sparks, and Aldo Billingslea.

Faculty from the Child Studies, Ethnic Studies, and Theatre & Dance departments were honored by Rep Ro Khanna for their work on behalf of African Americans.

Erick Ramirez, Philosophy, received a Graves Award to support his research on ethics and virtual reality, which underscores the important role new technologies play in the classroom.

Teresia Hinga, Fr. O'Brien and two entrepreneurs in Kenya

Teresia Hinga, Religious Studies, accompanied Kevin O'Brien, S.J. to Kenya on a trip centered on entrepreneurship and the water crisis.

Ray Furuta, Music, combines experiential learning, social justice, and music to connect and engage his students with local marginalized communities.